What NOT to say to performers
Just in case you don't watch "Step It Up And Dance" on Bravo, here's a rundown on the topic today:
Cody Green, an immensely talented dancer and contestant on Bravo's "Step It Up And Dance" (and also currently in the revival of Grease on Broadway), has a problem letting the emotion of what he is doing show through in his dancing. In the episode aired 5/29/08, he was told by Nancy O'Meara, one of the judges on the show, that his performance was "snobby," when she merely meant that it lacked emotion. When he asked for a more constructive adjective to describe his performance, she gave him "cold," but then went right back to "snobby." If she was at all able to see what that word did to him, she might have realized that she should rephrase her criticism. In fact, later in the show when she was given the opportunity to critique his performance again, she used the same word, and when confronted by the host of the show that her criticism was not helpful, she pressed on with the same course of action.
What Cody needs, and indeed what all actors/dancers/performers need is to be given constructive criticism. Artists are very sensitive to criticism, and to tell them something not constructive is to derail their artistic process. He is stuck, and is at this point unable to translate the criticism he has been given to anything quantifiable. Ms. O'Meara, having been a dancer, should realize that.
I am all for honest criticism. In fact, when I coach actors, I often remind them of the reality of the profession. I am the first person to tell an actor that their piece is not working for them, they need to get more training, etc. That kind of information is very important, but must be presented in a way that helps the performer get through their own particular blocks.
I personally have had some teachers who have no business teaching because of the way they treat actors. Some teachers seem to feel that they need to break you down to submission so they can build you back up. A sort of "no pain, no gain" approach. I believe that learning to deal with the pain in your life is very important - you learn to open yourself to the real emotion of any scene you have to play. But that's all yours, and it does not belong to anyone else.
Cody Green, an immensely talented dancer and contestant on Bravo's "Step It Up And Dance" (and also currently in the revival of Grease on Broadway), has a problem letting the emotion of what he is doing show through in his dancing. In the episode aired 5/29/08, he was told by Nancy O'Meara, one of the judges on the show, that his performance was "snobby," when she merely meant that it lacked emotion. When he asked for a more constructive adjective to describe his performance, she gave him "cold," but then went right back to "snobby." If she was at all able to see what that word did to him, she might have realized that she should rephrase her criticism. In fact, later in the show when she was given the opportunity to critique his performance again, she used the same word, and when confronted by the host of the show that her criticism was not helpful, she pressed on with the same course of action.
What Cody needs, and indeed what all actors/dancers/performers need is to be given constructive criticism. Artists are very sensitive to criticism, and to tell them something not constructive is to derail their artistic process. He is stuck, and is at this point unable to translate the criticism he has been given to anything quantifiable. Ms. O'Meara, having been a dancer, should realize that.
I am all for honest criticism. In fact, when I coach actors, I often remind them of the reality of the profession. I am the first person to tell an actor that their piece is not working for them, they need to get more training, etc. That kind of information is very important, but must be presented in a way that helps the performer get through their own particular blocks.
I personally have had some teachers who have no business teaching because of the way they treat actors. Some teachers seem to feel that they need to break you down to submission so they can build you back up. A sort of "no pain, no gain" approach. I believe that learning to deal with the pain in your life is very important - you learn to open yourself to the real emotion of any scene you have to play. But that's all yours, and it does not belong to anyone else.
posted by The Audition Blog at
8:31 AM
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